Perception Engineer, Missile Defense

Location: Onsite near Denver, CO or Long Beach, CA; candidates must be based near one of these locations.

Base salary: $125,000–$270,000, plus equity and benefits.

Company

hirify.global develops autonomous spacecraft, advanced payloads, mission software, and space-based interceptors for U.S. and allied space security.

What you will do

• Architect image-processing, multi-object tracking, and discrimination pipelines for space-based missile defense.
• Design and implement multi-band EO/IR image processing in C++, including non-uniformity correction, radiometric calibration, band registration, frame stacking, adaptive detection, and PSF photometry.
• Develop physics-based features and model thermal, optical, illumination, viewing-geometry, glint, optics, and detector effects.
• Design tracking systems for many closely spaced objects through occlusion and maneuvers.
• Analyze and verify algorithm performance through statistical analysis, Monte Carlo campaigns, and error budgets.
• Validate algorithms in software- and hardware-in-the-loop simulations, then integrate them into flight software for space-qualified processors.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in physics, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, computer science, or a similar discipline.
• Experience with C/C++ and Python.
• At least 2 years of experience implementing image-processing, detection, and tracking algorithms deployed in real-world systems.
• Working knowledge of radiometry and infrared phenomenology.
• Ability to work in a multidisciplinary team and solve complex problems using first-principles approaches.
• Passion for spaceflight and capabilities related to missile defense and space security.
• Must be a U.S. citizen and eligible for DoD Secret or TS/SCI clearance.
• Must satisfy U.S. Government space-technology export requirements, including ITAR eligibility.

Nice to have

• Master's or PhD in physics, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a similar discipline.
• Experience with missile defense or EO/IR sensor programs.
• Expertise in EO/IR phenomenology and signature modeling, radiometric calibration, thermal modeling, focal-plane array characterization, nonlinear filtering, or multi-object tracking including JPDA, MHT, or IMM.
• Experience with IR scene generation, sensor simulation, and validating algorithms against measured data.
• At least 2 years of professional experience writing high-reliability production C/C++ code.

Culture & Benefits

• Mission focused on space superiority, missile defense, and space security.
• Company-paid medical, dental, and vision coverage with HSA/HRA options.
• Flexible time off for exempt employees, up to 25 accrued PTO days for non-exempt employees, 12 paid holidays, parental leave, and sick leave.
• 401(k), fitness reimbursement, equity participation, catered lunch and snacks for in-office employees.
• Collaborative multidisciplinary environment emphasizing creativity, ambitious problem-solving, and teamwork.